Announcing the Winner of the 2026 Irish Writers Centre New Writing Prize in partnership with The Stinging Fly

We are delighted to announce Isla Thomson as the winner of the 2026 Irish Writers Centre New Writing Prize in partnership with The Stinging Fly. Isla has won the prize for her short story, ‘Husbands’, which we will publish in our Winter 2026-27 issue.

Isla Thomson is from Lancashire, England, and now lives in Dublin. She has just completed an MFA in Creative Writing from University College Dublin, where she now tutors in the same subject. She is finishing a collection of short stories.

The New Writing Prize is a collaboration between the Irish Writers Centre and The Stinging Fly. Now in its second year, the award aims to discover, promote and encourage the talents of new, undiscovered voices writing in Ireland today. Ellen Flanagan was the inaugural winner of the 2025 Irish Writers Centre New Writing Prize for her short story ‘A Typical Barbie’, which is available to read on the Stinging Fly website.

The focus of the 2026 prize was on emerging writers – specifically writers living on the island of Ireland or who consider Ireland to be their home who have not yet published fiction in print or online with The Stinging Fly.

On hearing about the award, Isla commented: “It is such an honour to receive this award, and not one I was expecting! At this stage in my writing, it is so exciting to have this sense of progression, and mentorship through the Irish Writers Centre will be absolutely integral to the development of my work to come. As a reader of The Stinging Fly, being published in the magazine is also a dream come true.”

Editor of The Stinging Fly magazine, Lisa McInerney had this to say about Isla’s story: “‘Husbands’ leaps off the page from its opening lines. It’s irreverent and hilarious, but it’s also invigoratingly sly, with characters who’d hate to be analysed and yet who can’t help baring their souls. We’re so looking forward to introducing this talented new writer

to our readers, alongside the other exciting emerging voices in our upcoming winter issue.”

As part of the prize, Isla will receive mentoring with an established writer, selected by the Irish Writers Centre.

More than 500 stories were entered for this year’s prize.